North Korea has responded to a confidential United Nations (U.N.) report claiming the country raised up to $2 billion by targeting cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial institutions.
According to The Korea Herald, the rogue nation responded to the United Nations’ report by claiming the United States and “other hostile forces are now spread ill-hearted rumors.” The response came through North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency.
The news agency reportedly cited a statement from a spokesperson for the National Coordination Committee of the DPRK for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism. The report it denies claimed N. Korea was using the funds to fund weapons programs.
North Korea’s statement said:
Such a fabrication by the hostile forces is nothing but a sort of a nasty game aimed at tarnishing the image of our Republic and finding justification for sanctions and pressure campaign against the DPRK.
The report went on to compare the United Nations’ behavior to that of the Nazi party in the years leading up to the second world war, claiming the accusation was a “sheer lie” that aimed to reenact “the same old trick as the Hitler fascist propagandists used to cling to.”
South Korea itself has accused the North of hacking cryptocurrency exchanges to raise funds while bypassing sanctions. The rogue nations if believed to be behind the attacks as it’s connected to a hacking group called Lazarus, which has been linking to an $81 million cyber heist from Bangladesh’s central bank.
